Mutterings for the Minority

The Swans headed to the north east in confident mood after a scintillating win over Arsenal last weekend, but faced a rejuvinated Sunderland team, whom were poles apart from the drab and dreary outfit we saw back in August at the Liberty.  What a difference a manager can make (sometimes).

Given the media plaudits that surrounded the discovery of the Swansea triangles the previous weekend, there was perhaps (in some quarters) a sense of added pressure and expectancy to deliver the goods at the Stadium of Light.  However anyone with a sense of perspective will readily accept that getting 3 points – especially away from home – isn’t quite as easy as that.

The irony of Brendan Rodger’s comments on “lazy journalism” from last Sunday can’t have escaped anyone, as those whom have watched the Swans – or indeed any other half decent footballing side(s) – over the last 3 to 4 seasons would have witnessed these “triangles” many times before.  Isn’t this what most good, well organised football teams do?

Anyway, back to the today and our 718 mile round trip to the home of the Black Cats.  Back in June when the fixtures were released, a debut trip (for myself and my 5 companions for the day) to Sunderland in January, seemed like a fab idea at the time.  However getting out of bed and having breakfast at 04:30am for a 05:30 departure really put our ‘fab idea’ to the test!

With Polka Dot Jack at the helm, Sports Writer Jack, Porn Jack, Bald Jack,  Wine Taster Jack and my good self eagerly awaited the 6 hour plus drive ahead – which would no doubt be filled with the usual banter that accompanies such outings (minus the alcohol and drugs in our case I hasten to add).

By the time we reached the world famous Stenchsham services (ha ha) on the M5 it was just about getting light and it was a sobering thought to see other weary eyed, half asleep Jacks there as well.  A quick pee, purchase of some Match Attax cards & coffee and we were off again on our travels.

We spent some considerable time debating (arguing?) the appointment of Chris Coleman as the Wales manager and then subsequently the Wales/Team GB  scenario.  I shall say no more on the subject and thankfully by the time we reached Woodall services on the M1, we’d moved on and were discussing how a shitzu had managed to bite Bald Jack on the buttocks.  Don’t ask.

There were plenty of other Jacks here to, not to mention some Charlton and Derby County fans.  Which made me ponder as to which motorway service station was the busiest – in terms of the number of different football teams fans that passed through – on a Saturday.  Anyone care to have a guess?

We reached our chosen lunch destination – Durham – by 11:15 and decided to give our legs a good stretch and have a wander around this historic city, which incidentally is home to one of the UK’s top 3 universities.

Durham is an ideal stop off point for anyone heading to Sunderland to watch a game, as it’s only 14 miles away.  A quick recce of the food establishments so us choose Hide Bar/Grill/Restaurant as the location for our pre-match meal.

For the first time ever I tried a ‘Calzone’ – which isn’t a brand new food range from Joe Calzaghe – it’s a folded pizza which looks like a giant cornish pastie, but tastes a lot better.  In fact it was so nice I forgot to take a picture of it!!

So with this small part of the travelling Jack Army now bearing full stomachs, it was time for us to march on to the Stadium of Light via the free park and ride service to the stadium.

Thankfully the P&R service for the stadium is well signposted and can be seen as soon as you get near Sunderland, so we quickly parked up and jumped on one of the old school style double decker buses that were being used.  The locals were friendly and helpful – which is in keeping with the rest of the people I’ve met from these parts.  Just a shame then that they don’t feel like that about one another I guess…. but hey ho, look at us and Cardiff.  Enough said.

One thing that stands out as you approach the stadium is the industrial heritage of the area.  You couldn’t help but notice the huge amount of waste ground that surrounded the stadium, which no doubt must have once been a home to a colliery or similar industry.  It made for a very bleak, almost unwelcoming feel – especially on such a windy and cold day.

A quick walk around the ground made me realise why some people compare the Liberty stadium to the SoL – apart from the obvious capacity difference of an extra 28,500 seats!  Its got the same bland exterior and even the overhanging roof supports look the same.

The Sunderland match day programme was an excellent read and was packed with interesting info and stats for both home and away fans.  I particularly liked the way you could flick the pages of the programme (from front to back) and in the top right hand corner of the page you’d see a picture by picture animation of their winning goal against Manchester City – a very clever idea.

There was also a pull out sheet of stickers inside the programme – some of the players and some general club stickers – which obviously were intended for adding to the club sticker album. A very clever marketing ploy – parents buy a programme for the stickers as little Jack wants to put them in his club sticker book.  Who needs Match Attax or Panini eh?

And so onto the main event and the small matter of 3 points.  Prior to the game, I’d have been happy with a point – as I am always when the Swans play away from home in the league.  However, news of ‘The Iceman’ (Gylfi Sigurdsson) starting filled me with greater confidence that we could take all the points on offer.

The Swans backed by a guestimated away following of 1,400 (in a crowd of 36,000 odd) were in fine voice as the game kicked off and we saw little evidence of the ‘Roker Roar’ at this stage.  There wasn’t a great deal of evidence of it throughout the game – which was disappointing.  Any noise they did generate was made by a section of about 3,000 or so Sunderland fans to our left in the south west corner stand but it didn’t last for very long even if it was loud in fairness.

Here is my take on the game (from what I remember!) in bullet points…

• The opening exchanges were fairly even with Sunderland looking the more threatening through the busy Bendtner and Sessegnon;
• From the outset Siggy was instrumental in most of the Swans attacking play and looks a class addition to the squad on the evidence of his performances thus far in a Swans shirt;
• Having carved up the Sunderland defence, Scotty skyed a chance from 6 yards out and 60 seconds later we were 1 nil down to a cracking – if somewhat fortunate finish – from Sessegnon.  Ruthlessly punished for not taking our chances – grrrrr;
• After the goal, we seemed to play the next 25 minutes camped in Sunderland’s half, passing and probing but without finding any real cutting edge bar a Danny Graham header and a couple of long range efforts.  This certainly silenced the home crowd if nothing else, despite them being 1 nil to the good.  Bizarre if you ask me;

• Whilst taking refuge from the biting wind at half time, the talk amongst the fans was extremely positive and we felt as though we could still get something from the game – such was our dominance;
• The 2nd half started pretty much as the first, but this time the Swans were pushing hard for the equaliser with Nathan Dyer getting into the game more and more;
• Unfortunately on the other wing, Scotty was having a torrid afternoon and on some occasions had 3 men marking him.  His performances aren’t what they were last year BUT we mustn’t forget that he is now a known quantity and is often marked out of games. He is also up against far more physical defenders – which for a lightweight winger is a big ask;
• A cracking free-kick by Siggy was the closest we came to an equaliser and shortly afterwards he was replaced by debutant Josh McEachran.  Some fans questioned this decision, but you’ve got to remember that Siggy is still building up his match fitness after only limited game time for his parent club Hoffenheim;
• From the brief glimpse we saw of Josh, he seems as accomplished on the ball as you’d expect of any BR signing. My only concern is that he may be too lightweight against some of the more physical teams – such as Stoke!
• We dominated once again for long periods but without really threatening to score.  It did however make the natives a wee bit restless and impatient. The patience of a premier league football fan is very limited obviously
• I suppose it was inevitable that pushing forward so much that we’d get caught on the break and so it was with a sublime finish from 25 yards by Craig Gardner to finish us off;

•  It sounds daft saying this after a 2 nil defeat, but defensively we were strong again and we beaten by two special goals in fairness.  However, Rangel is quickly developing into what seems to be the ‘norm’ for left/right backs in the Premier League nowadays – great going forward, but gets caught going of position when defending. A theme sadly which is prevalent for most of the away games I’ve seen;
• Referee Chris Foy gave a typical Foy performance – baffling decisions (yes it was a corner Chris – over 36,000 other people could see that!) and an annoying habit of getting in the way of the ball;
• I’m quickly coming to the conclusion that we might have to setup differently away from home. I’d have liked to see the marginally more physical Routledge start ahead of Scotty and maybe even Lita instead of Danny G.  Only time will tell if Brendan read’s this blog or not;
• Finally whilst we get criticised for just looking pretty and not having a cutting edge, I do think that over time we’ll overcome this deficiency (away from home) and for that reason alone I have faith in Brendan’s perseverance with our style and formation;

We trudged away from the stadium somewhat bewildered as to how we could dominate a game so much and yet threaten the goal so little.  But we were far from despondent as we joined the long queue for the short P&R bus back to the car.

The Mackems we spoke to were more than forthcoming with advice on how to avoid the traffic by taking x and y road, whilst others were more intent on suggesting that we take it easy and enjoy ourselves whilst in the north east - “why don’t yows spend the night in Newcastle like and smash the fooking place up good and proper like?”.  It could have been worse I guess, they could have wanted to have rumble with six 37+ year old Jacks

Before you could say Adebayo Akinfenwa we were back in the car and looking forward to our 6 and a half hour journey home – surprisingly upbeat considering the defeat but buoyed somewhat by the performance.  I’d hate to have thought how we’d have felt if we’d got mullered though!

After only one brief stop at Woolley Edge services and a detour via Abergavenny due to the M4 being closed and I was home by 23:15 – still full of beans and in time to watch the Swans on Match of the Day!!

The journey home simply flew by and I can’t believe we spent the best part of 3 hours playing the football players and then pop group names word association game!  I’d recommend it to anyone on a long away trip (even if some people cheat – Wine Taster Jack/Porn Jack!).

All in all it was a good day – apart from the result – and I remain as optimistic as ever.  After all we’re “Premier League and we’re having a laugh”

Hopefully one of these will run in front of me on the way to Bolton for the FA Cup tie on Saturday…

Come on you Swans!

 

Football fans of a certain age and era (i.e. 40 plus and late 1970′s) will be familiar with the name of Alan Brazil.

Famed for his bushy blonde hair, the former free-scoring striker of Ipswich Town, graced the field for a number of clubs including Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

Some of you might even remember him as being part of the Ipswich Town team that won the 1981 UEFA Cup Final by beating AZ Alkamar 5-4 over two legs.

He also represented his beloved Scotland on 13 occasions – the highlight being an appearance in the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

On a more personal note I remember him more from my days as a kid, watching him line-up for Ipswich against the Swans in the old First Division (1981-1983)  at the now non-existent Vetch Field.

He was also a stand out figure in my Panini football sticker book.  Do you remember collecting them?  If not, this image should bring back a few memories – especially at 12p a packet!

 

Nowadays, the likeable Glaswegian can be found presenting the ‘Sunday Exclusive’ and ‘Sports Breakfast’ shows on the radio station TalkSport.

So to quote a well known Brazilism “why” blog about him I hear you ask.

Well apart from the fact that he has always – when I’ve been listening anyway – been highly complimentary about my beloved Swansea City, he’s actually gone to great effort and sent me his nuts!!

Now before you all think that I’ve gone a little bit bonkers, let me explain.

As someone whom uses Twitter quite a lot, I was intrigued to see several retweets (RTs) on Monday this week about winning Alan Brazil’s nuts – not because I’ve decided to bat for the other side, but because I remember him as a football icon.

Basically the 300th Twitter follower of Brazil’s Nuts would win just that – Alan Brazil’s nuts.  There are no prizes here for guessing who won this accolade, yep that’s right me

And here’s the prize – 10 packets of his salted and dry-roasted peanuts. Thanks Alan!

But all nut jokes aside, there is a serious and worthy reason behind the Brazil’s Nuts story – money will be donated to charity for every packet sold.

The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation cancer charity will benefit from each sale of the snack and it is hoped that between £70,000 and £100,000 will be raised for the charity this year alone.

As Brazil’s Nuts are a new snacks range, they are currently only available as original salted and dry-roasted peanuts, but plans are being made to release chilli peanut and cashew nut versions later this year.

They’ll be available to buy in all good supermarkets and some rubbish ones too.

If the incentive of helping charity isn’t enough to get you to buy a packet, then maybe the fact that each packet of the nuts feature a QR code enabling you to access Talksport competitions, videos and exclusive content on the Talksport website is perhaps?

So whether you decide to buy the snacks or not is up to you, but at least get following @brazilsnuts on Twitter and help spread the word about Alan’s nutty fundraising efforts

Blwyddyn newydd dda i chi!  A new year usually heralds a new start and that’s exactly what the 3,000 Swans fans heading to Villa Park were hoping for today.

History and recent form weren’t exactly on our side… the Swans had lost all of the previous 7 league meetings at Villa Park – the last one in September 1982 – and hadn’t scored in any of those games.  And we all didn’t need reminding of our Premier League travel sickness problems.

That said the old cliché of football being a funny old game is indeed spot on and does forever give this old Swans fan hope – no matter the situation or opposition.

Given the Swans sterling efforts (and comeback) against top 4 chasing Spurs on New Years Eve, confidence was very high amongst the majority of fans – if a little tempered due to Villa’s surprising 3-1 spanking of Chelski at the bridge.

With Conker Jack at the helm for this road trip, we left at the rather decent (as in not crack of dawn) time of 09:30 – what a refreshing change as a certain beer advert accurately proclaims.

Our little quintet of the travelling Jack army consisted of two new members, in the shape of NFL Jack and NFL Jack Junior.  Suitably named due to their love of rugby US style – american football.

In fact the early part of our journey was spent discussing the unfairness of teams with superior playing records having to play away to teams with poor playing records – due to the geographical make up of the wildcards/play-offs.  Oh and we touched on the Green Bay Packers business model or rather ownership – i.e. the fans, all 112,000 of them!

With the NFL debate finished we arrived at Cardiff Gate services to pick up Director Jack – whom in fairness looked like he’d been set upon by Cardiff’s notorious hooligan firm the ‘Starbucks Crew‘.  Thankfully this wasn’t the case and he was merely suffering from too many Jägerbombs.

The remainder of our journey was consumed by a toilet stop in Michael Wood services (whomever he may be) and a Swans football quiz – consisting of such gems as…

Q: Name the Swans player whom starred in the movie ‘Escape to Victory’?
Q: Name four former Swans players whom have managed a Premier League team?

Please leave a comment if you think you know the answer(s)

A couple of wrong turnings later and we eventually arrived ‘The Ruskin Hall Club’ (no it’s not THAT sort of club), which is just off the A38 and only a mile walk to Villa Park at around 12:30.

The match day parking was £5 and it cost a quid to get into the club.  For those who like high cholesterol food, the burger van situated outside would suit your needs comfortably.

The club had a real working mens club feel to it with lots of televisions (featuring sky sports) and friendly chatter between fans of both clubs.  We did find the single file queueing system for the bar rather bizarre even if it did appear to work!  No matter though, it’s still an ideal stop off for anyone heading for Villa Park.

The 10 minute walk to Villa Park takes you through the stunning Aston Park, which is ideal for a picnic for those of you with the family/Mrs in tow but not the lads perhaps!!  During the walk you’ll also come across ‘Aston Hall’ rumoured to be owned by Stan Collymore, probably due to its idyllic rural location given his love for the outdoors and all that stuff.

I was looking forward to my visit to Villa Park and had often dreamt as a kid of walking up the steps to the Holte End to watch the Swans in an FA Cup semi-final – in the days when those games were played there of course.

This desire was no doubt due in part to some of the stories my late Dad had told me of the day he went to see the Swans v Preston FA Cup semi-final there in 1964 – a game which some of you will remember no doubt.

As is customary nowadays for all the Premier League grounds we visit, I take a stroll around to get a feel for the place and take as many pictures as I can. Partly to ‘seize the moment’ but also as part of my quest of visiting all 92 grounds watching the Swans. I’ve still got 39 to go!!

Despite Villa Park being one of the older Premier League grounds, it was still an impressive sight outside and inside – which was in stark contrast to some of the other northern based clubs we’d visited whilst watching the Swans recently!

With kick-off fast approaching we took up our seats (well standing area would be more accurate) in the lower part of the Doug Ellis stand and were surprised at how close we were to the pitch and how good the views were considering the tickets were only £29 – cheap compared to some other premier league stadiums believe me!

Whilst awaiting the kick-off, I couldn’t help but think back to the reverse fixture and the tragic events of that day. I also remember how physical (dirty?) a side Villa were that day and wondered what team selection Brendan would make – given the 6 changes he made on New Years Eve for the Spurs game.

The news of Andrea Orlandi making his first full premier league start did little to impress those around me and I must confess to thinking myself that he was a little too ‘lightweight’ as a midfield option for a feisty, physical Villa side.

So onto the game and my take on proceedings, as seen after only 1 bottle of Magners as opposed to my usual none….

• The early touches of Orlandi reminded me a lot of this year’s Dobbie – someone who was off the Premier League pace due to lack of game time not through lack of skill or ability;
• Regardless of the sublime pass by Stephen Warnock for Dyer’s goal, Dizzy took his chance superbly – something which I’m not sure the Dyer of old would have done.  But that’s confidence for you and for that Nathan I salute you sir
• In fact such was Dyer’s dominance of Warnock many pundits after the game were asking was Dyer worthy of an England call up.  A Talksport poll posing the question as to whether fans would want Theo Walcott or Nathan Dyer in their team, showed Dyer receiving a whopping 72% of the vote. Enough said;

• Villa’s rather boring tactic of lumping the ball into the box and looking for a knock-down for either Bent or Agbonlahor to convert proved fruitless with both Ashley Williams and Caulker dealing with everything that came their way;
• As the game progressed Orlandi played with increasing influence and could on the evidence of this game still have a first team role to play at the club – despite what a lot of fans think;
• In fact Agustien, Britton and Orlandi did a fine job in midfield and gave their so-called more illustrious opponents – Stephen Ireland, Charles N’Zogbia and Stiliyan Petrov – the run around for most of the time;
• The ever improving Wayne Routledge capped another fine performance with a well taken and historic goal – his first premier league goal in over 100 starts.  I really do think he’ll score more goals BUT he’ll have to show far more conviction on the pitch and in particular the final 3rd if that is to happen;

• Such was our creativity we could and probably should have scored more than the 2 goals – with Danny Graham going close on a couple of occasions.  What he lacks in goals though, he surely makes up for in work rate and he really does typify the Swans current never-say-die mentality;
• There was no requirement for Michel Vorm heroics this time around and the only time he was beaten – in inury time - N’Zogbia’s chance bounced back off the post;
• It’s hard to criticise any individual or the team after an all round terrific performance but I will! The one negative observation I’d make is that is that we have a tendency to overplay at the back sometimes, which sometimes creates unnecessary pressure, which often results in us giving the ball away in a dangerous part of the field. Rangel is often the culprit – he did it twice today – which is a shame as he is (in my opinion) a vital cog in the team;
• Villa did take us to the cleaners on one thing though…. corners but we dealt with them admirably. So much for our achilles heel being set-pieces eh;
• The travelling support was once again excellent and very vocal.  It was also good to hear a wide variety of Swans related songs and only one anti-Cardiff chant which I can recall – do us Jacks really give a toss about them anyway?!  The retort of “We love our manager” to the Villa fans chants of “You don’t know what you’re doing” was a particular favourite;

• I thought referee Anthony Taylor had an excellent game – as did Phil Dowd for the Swans v Spurs game I hasten to add – and allowed the game to flow with the minimum of fuss or intervention.  Perhaps Lee Probert could learn a thing or two from these gentlemen?
• Never before have I been warned by a steward that taking pictures during a match isn’t allowed.  Well not since Scunthorpe away back in 2001 anyway and at least the Villa steward didn’t threaten to chuck me out!

So who’d have thought it eh.  Our very first Premier League game of 2012 and the Swans break their away day hoodoo with a comfortable 2 nil success at the home of former European champions Aston Villa.

Happy as the proverbial pig in poo, we marched off back to the car still drooling over the afternoon’s proceedings – if a little bemused by the local lady we passed whom was ‘hoovering’ the pavement with a toy Dyson.  I didn’t have the heart to tell her that “nothing sucks like an electrolux”.

Anyway we were soon on our way home and eagerly tuned into Talksport to see what Stan the Man would make of the Swans stuffing his beloved Villans.  In fairness he ate an extraordinary amount of humble pie and keen to get in on the act Director Jack phoned up to take part in the phone-in.

Now this had to potential to be rather amusing, as the eloquently spoken Director had been tasked with getting the word “Dogging” into his conversation with Stan.  For example, “The Swans were doggingly determined to win today”  would have sufficed.  Unfortunately, he got cut off twice during the programme (signal issues) and the only thing he managed to successfully do was run up a whopping mobile phone bill!

I was back home by 19:45 and full of excitement to see what messrs Hansen and Shearer would make of the Swans first away win.  Being home so early made me realise how lucky (in football travel terms!) teams from the midlands are when it comes to going to watch away games.  You can leave for the game and sensible o’clock and still be home for supper.

I guess that’ll explain why Villa fans were creaming themselves that they took a mammoth 994 fans to Chelsea on New Years Eve….

Anyway, as a Swans fan what a fab way to start 2012 and who knows what the next 5 months will have in store.  The only thing I’m sure of is that whatever happens there’s never a dull moment when it comes to watching the Swans that’s for sure.

I’ll finish off with a song for all us Jacks that were at Villa Park to witness history being made.  Sung to the tune of “She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes”….

“When Wayne Routledge scored his goal I was there, when Wayne Routledge scored his goal I was there…”

 

 

Having given a superb ‘backs to the wall’ defensive display against Newcastle on the weekend, the Swans travelled to Goodison Park in a confident mood to take on an Everton side whom had struggled at home this season.

With the Swans still seeking their first 3 points on the road, many believed – given the recent performances of both sides – that tonight was going to be the night.  It’s never quite as easy as that though is it, especially in the Premier League.

For me the game had a more poignant significance as my late father was a self-confessed Blue and it was at Goodison Park where I witnessed my first ever game of professional football away from the Vetch Field.  Oh how he would have loved to see his son’s team lock horns with his beloved Everton in the Premier League.

The posse accompanying me on my 51st visit to an away ground (watching the Swans) were the usual suspects – Conker Jack and Director Jack – along with two new Jacks in the form of Golfer Jack and Doorless Dave (aka Jack-a-Door).

Doorless Dave is worth a special mention for his shenanigans in deepest darkest Blaina, where in true Michael Caine (‘ish) style he managed to “lose his bloody door” on his beloved Range Rover to a passing HGV – allegedly driven by a Cardiff City fan.

This story ensured much hilarity for the majority of the trip, fuelled further with constant Royle family quotes such as “How did you manage to do that then Dave?”.

I would say the choice of tunes for the journey was a source of amusement too – John Denver and Michael Bublé – but I think it’s fair to say that certain individuals, like Director Jack, would have rather listened to The Saturdays. There’s no accounting for some peoples tastes.

Anyway, having departed Loughor at around 1pm we took our usual scenic route through mid-Wales and headed north to The Old Trooper Harvester in Christleton (near Chester) for our planned pre-match meal.

We duly arrived in Christleton at 6pm – not bad from door to door (ha ha – nice one Dave) – having stopped only briefly in Mcdonalds in Newtown to have a pee. This seemed a very popular stop off point for other Swansea fans too as we saw numerous mini-buses and cars whilst there. I suspect this was more to do with the food than the toilets!

Talking of food, the fare in The Old Trooper was nowt to write home about (are any of the major chain restaurants?) and after munching our way through the courses we ended up being about £85 lighter in the pocket and collectively 8.5 lbs heavier in weight.

With our stomachs now full it was time for this little Jack Army to march onto Liverpool in search of Goodison Park on what was a mild but blustery evening on Merseyside.

We opted to park at a sports centre on Walton Hall Avenue (for £5) which was a little bit further away from the ground in the hope of (a) hopefully making a quick getaway after the game and (b) to provide some much needed exercise after our long journey/food over indulgence!

The walk to Goodison Park was not dissimilar to that of my visit to Anfield earlier in the season (apart from it being an evening of course) in that you had the stark contrast of row upon row of terraced houses and big green open spaces. And as per the Anfield visit, the Evertonians we encountered were very friendly.

Walking around Goodison Park you can’t help but sense/see that it’s showing its age and seems quite antiquated compared to other Premier League grounds we’ve visited. The one thing it doesn’t lack however is character from the old Vetch Field Double Decker’esque seating/stand to the statue of Everton legend Dixie Dean outside the Park End.

The Swans fans were given both tiers in the corner of the Bullens Road Stand and numbered approximately 2,100 – not bad for a midweek game 4 days before Christmas and not forgetting the costs involved with watching premier league away games.

I think it’s fair to say that whether you were sat in the upper or lower tier you would be struggling for a decent view of the game, unless the action was right in front of you.

Anyway onto the game and my take on proceedings…

• Personally I felt we looked like we were playing for a draw as from the outset we defended very deep with most of the players behind the ball;
• Our midfield were being outmuscled during the early stages and we really needed Kemy Agustien in midfield not Mark Gower;
• Whilst we might have been outmuscled, we certainly weren’t bullied and it was noticeable how defensively everyone was putting their bodies on the line for the cause;
• Jazz Richards continues to improve game by game and defender well this evening against a very tricky, pacy and strong Royston Drenthe;

• Unfortunately, Scott Sinclair seems to be lacking confidence which is in stark contract with Wayne Routeledge whom continues to prove me wrong – with yet another strong performance (bar a few poor passes);
• Despite being under the cosh during the majority of the first half (ring any bells?) we held out well and were I felt looking strong defensively – especially with Vorm making a couple of outstanding saves;
• Neil Taylor injury looked very serious at first and it was a relief to see him get up and waddle (much to the annoyance of the Everton fans) before making way for Rangel;
• A change was needed at half time and thankfully it arrived in the shape of Kemy Agustien who was a 2nd half replacement for the out of sorts Mark Gower;

• Rangel’s presence on the field illustrated how much he’d been missed and actually made me think long and hard about my early season observations about teams targetting him as a weak link;
• The Everton goal actually came from a corner that should never have been given – the ref overruled the linesman and as I was sat directly in line with it I could see it hadn’t taken a deflection!
• Which brings mean onto the standard of refereeing as once again it was poor and Kevin Friend fell firmly into the ‘homer’ category (yes and in the Simpson’s kind of way as well!);
• As always seems to be the case the Swansea fans were in fine voice again, which is more than can be said for their Evertonian counterparts. Sing when you’re winning, since one song and then stop singing would be more apt;
• Ashley Williams exemplified his ability as a captain by showing a great deal of appreciation to the fans for their support before, during and after the game. His crouched ‘hands in head’ pose at the final whistle also showed the disappointment he, the team and us as fans felt;
• Overall it was the lack of creativity from the Swans that was the most disappointing aspect of the game. Some might also argue that we didn’t deviate from plan A when we chasing the game as well. But let’s face it, we’ve never done that have we.

Disappointed with the 1 nil defeat, but by no means distraught, we trudged back to the car discussing the various ifs, buts and maybes of what we’d witnessed.

Every defeat seems to bring talk of upcoming games being ‘must wins’ but that doesn’t interest me, as at the end of the day EVERY game is a must win, in the sense that teams should go out to win every game. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the odd defeat such as this will not define our season. Anyway…

The thought of a John Denver/Michael Bublé combo on the 4.5 hour journey home was a very sobering one and did little to raise the spirits of us youngsters. Thankfully my sesame seeded ham and spinach baps came to the rescue (cue inuendo) – along with a Swans/football quiz – as we hurtled our way down the motorway (as opposed to being shaken, rattled and rolled through mid-Wales).

Thankfully the time seemingly flew by and our north-west adventure came to an end at 3am and although absolutely shattered I couldn’t help but think that at least one person I know and miss would have been happy with the result.

Dad – Nil Satis Nisi Optimum x

The Swans backed by a travelling support of over 2,500 fans, travelled north to face bottom of the table Blackburn for a game that many anticipated would be our first Premier League away win.

How times have changed since the last time we played Blackburn, a 4-1 defeat at the Liberty stadium in a friendly back in July 2005, when the Swans were in League One.

Sadly on a day that the Swans gave a debut to their rather bright orange away kit, the result was more akin to the grim northern weather that greeted us on our arrival in this Lancashire town.

With Sports Writer Jack at the helm, we embarked on the 400 mile round trip (using the mid-Wales route) from the Swansea valley at around 08:15 and made good progress reaching Blackburn by around 12:30 – without a pee stop I hasten to add.  Now that’s what you call bladder retention!

The journey ‘up north’ passed without much in the way of incident – apart from a couple of mid-Walian kamikaze pheasants (now rather well known due to previous Swans away days) which sadly met their match in the form of an accelerating 4×4 owner.  You’d have thought he’d have slowed down to let them cross the road – as we did – but obviously he had other ideas and a sunday roast to prepare no doubt.

In keeping with the food theme, once we arrived in a wet, grey and grim (depressing?) Blackburn – we decided to utilise one of the many £4 or £5 a time impromptu car parks dotted along Branch Road – some half mile or so away from Ewood Park – and headed off in search of some nourishment.

Fortunately for us we came across a chip shop come chinese takeaway called the ‘Bamboo House’ on nearby Fore street and we were good to go.  Once our curly chips and meat & potato pie were no more, we set off in search of Ewood Park to have a nose around.  What is it with chinese takeaways and curly chips?

Whilst making the 10 minute walk to the ground we passed the designated away fans pub – The Fernhurst Arms – which was already packed with Swans fans.  I suspect the bouncers on the door and large police outside were in case of any violence at finding out it cost £2 just to get into the place!

As we approached the ground, it was obvious to see where some of Jack Walker’s millions had been spent and it made us realise that whilst Blackburn might not be in the list of most fashionable clubs to trip off everyone’s tongue – they are  certainly up there when it comes to heritage and history.

Our early arrival meant that we were able to have a walk around the ground and see both team buses arrive.  It also gave us an opportunity to gauge the sense of disenchantment of the Blackburn fans towards Steve Kean.

Much to our surprise the Blackburn team bus was greeted by no more than 30 or so fans, and as the players/management got off the coach there was only a solitary comment aimed at Kean – “It’s now or never Kean” and that my friends was it!  Not quite the sort of barracking I anticipated.

As if planned with military precision, the departure of the Blackburn team coach heralded the arrival of the Swans bus less than 5 minutes later, by which time around 20 or so Swansea fans had arrived to greet the team.

The players looked very focussed and ‘in the zone’ – with the majority wearing the trendy Skullcandy headphones which are so popular with Premier League footballers nowadays.  I’m sure it was disappointing for the young Swansea fans present that none of them (from what we could see) – other than Stephen Dobbie – chose to acknowledge they’re presence.  Surely a quick hello or autograph wouldn’t go amiss? Having said that I suppose given the time of arrival 13:30 the players are purely focussed on the game and nothing else.

Continuing our tour around the ground it was evident everywhere we looked the impact Jack Walker (and his money) had had on the club – and the local area no doubt.  There was a customary stand named after him and even the catering/hospitality area aptly known as “Jack’s Kitchen”.  Perhaps Delia Smith should take note?

A quick visit to the club shop once again illustrated how far the Swans lag behind other Premier League teams in terms of merchandising opportunities.  Does anyone from the club ever take the time to check what ‘the opposition’ is up to?  I’d happily provide a dossier on what I’ve witnessed at the 5 other clubs I’ve visited watching the Swans this season – and no that doesn’t include Shrewsbury Town’s club shop!  Anyway I’ll wrap up about that as I’m a web anorak not a marketing guru.

After not undertaking any retail therapy whatsoever, we continued our walk around the ground and came across a memorial garden – where fans could (if they so wished) have their ashes scattered.

This struck us both as something which I’m sure a lot of Swansea or indeed Ospreys fans might wish to see at the Liberty stadium perhaps.  There is after all some available green belt of land behind and to the side of the East Stand.

I wonder if the club would be receptive to this idea?  Let’s not forget that whilst the club was in residence at our once beloved Vetch Field that ashes were scattered onto the pitch.  I wonder what happens to such requests nowadays?

It was a poignant reminder of years gone by when we passed the Riverside Stand, which was in stark contrast to the other 3 re-developed stands at Ewood Park.  The site of the groundsman’s tools and machinery nestled under the stand was comical and served to remind me of our days at the Vetch.

There is always something to be said for the old skool football grounds and I miss the quirky character that they bring to an ‘away day’ trip.  Sadly modern stadia can’t and I don’t think ever will be able to re-create this ‘feeling’.

The site of a ‘Multi Faith Room’ underneath the stand was something which neither of us had ever seen before at a football ground – but I guess it just goes to show the diverse range of cultures that exist in this part of Lancashire.

After the obligatory touch and feel by the stewards, we entered the away end… now that sounds dodgy, so I’ll re-phrase it… we entered the Darwen End stand where the 3,000 or so Swans fans would be housed (lower and upper tiers).

It must be said that ALL of the Blackburn people we met were very very friendly and I can see why people say that northerners are generally a friendly bunch – unlike their compatriots from south of the Watford gap.

Anyway, enough of the ground tour and stereotyping – what of the game…

• A rapturous minutes applause was held in memory of Gary Speed, with the Swans fans singing “There’s only one Gary Speed” throughout.  A fitting tribute for a well respected and much loved Welsh football great;
• The absence of Danny Graham to injury meant a start for the more physical Leroy Lita – an attribute that would be needed against a big, physical Blackburn outfit;
• Ashley ‘Jazz’ Richards was making his full Premier League debut and we hoped that his inexperience wouldn’t be exploited by his more experienced opponent – in the shape of the pacy Junior Hoillet;
• The orange away kit was given a debut on a dreary winter’s day – which we thought might be a useful advantage, despite the colour clashing with the stewards dotted around the pitch;
• The Swans started brightly with a strong Ashley Williams block tackle on Yakubu – forcing him to initially hobble – setting the tone for the opening 15 minutes;
• Unfortunately, Jazz was ‘done’ on 21 minutes and Blackburn were ahead thanks to a wonderfully taken strike from Yakubu.  He really is a big old unit and would prove to be a right handful all afternoon;

• The body language after the goal wasn’t good and we did wonder how the team would react. We needn’t have worried;
• Another long period of domination led to us scoring a sublime team goal, with a salmon like jump from Leroy bringing us level – cue jubilation from the travelling hordes.  Lita for me was one of the positives from the afternoon – working hard at closing down and chasing back;
• The 2nd goal was again from a defensive lapse with Jazz arguably giving away a corner rather than perhaps ushering the ball out of play.  The Yak wasn’t going to miss (unfortunately) with a header from 3 yards out;
• Another lapse in concentration in the 2nd half – this time by Neil Taylor (I think) – saw the Yak add to his tally with a powerful header and I did wonder which Swansea we were going to see for the remainder of the game.  Would be capitulate or rally?;
• Somehow to their credit, the team and fans rallied and a goal from the hard working Luke Moore after some good work by Wayne Routledge – who continues to prove me wrong – set the game up for a grandstand finish.  The belief was there again;
• After Luke’s goal and during another long period of Swans dominance, we wasted a couple of chances (Sinclair’s in particular) to bring things level and I think had we done so we would have gone on to win the game – such was the frailty of Blackburn’s defence at the time;

• Sadly the sending off of Joe Allen (2nd yellow) and Neil Taylor’s subsequent unnecessary penalty box lunge meant the Yak sewed the game up from the penalty spot and we were left to rue missed chances and what might have been’s;
• Whilst I’ve previously commentated on the way teams appear to target Angel Rangel at away games – on today’s evidence I also realise how much work he actually does in both defence and attack.  His month long absence is a huge blow;
• Our consistent, fluid passing game seems to have gone a little awry over the last 2 or 3 games (in patches) and I can’t help but feel this is reflected in the results;
• The inconsistent standard in refereeing was once again evident today with Chris Foy seemingly falling firmly into the ‘Homer’ category.  Mind you if the half-hearted manner of his pre-match warm-up was anything to go by, I don’t think either he or his fellow officials really wanted to be there anyway!
• It was somewhat bizarre to hear the Blackburn fans chanting ‘Kean Out’ during and after the game considering the result.  But in fairness I guess the ‘rot’ had set in quite some time ago and one win certainly wasn’t going to change that;
• Chant of the day would have to go to the Jack Army with ‘Steve Kean for England’ – we can only hope
• Overall we’d once again dominated for long periods of the game but a lack of killer instinct in front of goal and some uncharacteristic sloppy defending cost us dearly. We really MUST become more ruthless in front of goal;

So all in all it was a disappointing end to what we’d hoped was going to be an historic day and with the opportunity to sing the “Jingle Bells Swans Win Away” song dashed, we trudged off back to the car to contemplate the 4 and a half hour drive home.

The highlight of the journey home was without doubt tasting Olivia’s muffins which lifted our spirits no end and ensured the trip home was an extremely pleasant one.

Despite the the odd burst of torrential rain, we made good time and I was back home with my feet up by 21:30, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to scrutinise our performance once again on match of the day.

However disappointing the result today may have been, at this juncture, one game certainly doesn’t make or break a season and I’m optimistic that we’ll return to form sooner rather than later.

As always, I’m proud to be a Swan.